It's Cold Out
by Umidunnostuff
Summary: Levy and Gajeel return from a mission in the middle of the night, injured and exhausted. It also happens to be in the middle of the blizzard, but things aren't so bad. They have each other.
1. Chapter 1

Gavel and levy stumbled off of the last train into a blinding snowstorm at one o'clock at night. The two had been out on a mission that they had extended into a training/camping trip, but had been attacked by a particularly strong monster and had both been wounded. It was a mutual decision to return.

"Shrimp, my place is closer. Let's head there to get bandaged up, and then see where to go from there," said Gajeel, in a pained grunt. Levy simply nodded in agreement before the two headed off, staggering through the dark cold night with only each other for support.

Once they reached his little house on the edge of town, he let them in, before collapsing into the couch in the living room.

"Make yourself at home" he grumbled, before heaving himself up to look for some bandages and ointment. Once he found them, he walked back to the living room and plopped himself in front of levy, before beginning to wrap up some of the larger cuts and scrapes on her arms and legs.

"Gajeel, you're hurt way worse than I am, let me do you first," her words erupted from her mouth as levy eyed his pained movements and soft grunts of discomfort with concern. She worried about what had become her dear friend, and dare she say crush. He pushed himself to far to be strong.

"Nonsense, gihi, I'm fine," he said, forcing out a laugh, but levy could tell instantly that he was lying.

"No. Sit on the couch and take off your shirt." Levy commanded, all buisness now. It was cold in the room, so levy bustled about, grabbing a log and lightning it with solid script: Fire. That filled the room with a warm glow, and more importantly, a better light source. She then returned to his side, still limping profusely, and examined the deep cuts along his chest and shoulders. They had scabbed over on their trip back, but were still weeping slightly, and looked extremely painful.

"Hold still,"she mumbled, digging through the first aid kit and pulling out a needle and thread "it's too deep, I have too stitch it."

As she carried out her task, levy had to fight not to flinch at every soft gasp or twitch of pain.

"Oi, that's enough. Now let me get you," the injured dragon slayer said tiredly," you came out of that fight pretty badly. Where did it get you?"

Levy blushed at this. The monster had injured her across her stomach and left hip, causing quite an obvious limp, but also basically requiring her to strip in order for her partner to wrap it properly. She hesitated befor answering, "it's here"she said, lifting her dress to display the wounds, but also showing the dragon slayer far too much skin for her comfort.

Levy watched as he blushed slightly,and then made an effort to focus only on her wounds. He knelt down to get a better view of them, his sleep deprived brain struggling not to focus on the beautiful girl in front of him. As he wrapped the wounds, he tried his very best to avoid contact with her skin, but his shaking hands couldn't avoid brushing up against her soft waist, and then her thigh. As he stood back up to look down at her, Gajeel knew that he was blushing as much as he could see she was. He wrenched his gaze away.

"I suppose you want to get home, then," he said gruffly, before marching over to the window, with the petite girl trailing after him. She arrived at the window in time to hear him grumble "shit" and see that the snow had piled up against the window past her head.

"Looks like we're snowed in" said Gajeel, glancing at her, " I guess you will have to stay the night." At this point he really wished Lilly was around, and not off on his own mission. Levy blushed, and muttered "guess so." Before glancing down at her tattered clothing.

"I can lend ya some stuff to sleep in, that stuffs gotta be soaking wet" said Gajeel, before going into a room that she could only assume was the bedroom, before returning with some items of clothing.

"Bathrooms in there, you can change and do whatever. When you get out, I guess we can decide sleeping arrangements."

Levy changed, giggling at the fact that the long sleeved shirt was comically large, and the sweatpants pooled at her feet, whilst the waistband sagged, even when pulled to its tightest. As she exited the bathroom, Gajeel sat waiting on the couch.

" this couch is about as comfortable as a rock, so I'll take it shrimp. You can have the bed, okay?"

"No! That's a bad idea with your injuries," she claimed, going to sit by his side,"we can just share the bed. I don't take up much room." "That's not really what I was worried about" grumbled the dragon slayer, before giving into levys big doe eyes. He had noticed just how cute she really looked, almost swimming in his clothes, they were so large."fine," he grumbled," have it your way" before leading the way to the bedroom. The two of them passed out immediately, barely finding time to pull the covers up. She barely had time to register how warm Gajeel felt next to her, and he barely had time to understand quite how soft her hair was under his chin as the two curled closer to each other subconsciously, before passing out on that snowy night.


	2. Chapter 2

When Gajeel woke, it was probably already late in the day, though it was impossible to tell, seen as the snow now nearly covered the window, leaving the room darkened. As he stirred groggily, he noticed something warm resting besides him, in stark contrast to the cold air against his face, and turned to see a mass of blue hair poking out from the bedcovers. The half asleep fog lifted from his brain as he remembered the circumstances that had led to the tiny girl being there in bed with him, wearing his oversized clothing.

As he saw her begin to stir into consciousness, Gajeel rapidly turned away, to avoid being caught staring. Levy grumbled a little, and let out a yawn, and seemed to snuggle towards him, before realizing exactly what the large heat source was, and sitting up and stretching out her limbs with a slight blush on her face. The muscles had stiffened overnight, and had begun to ache like hell, and the joints in her delicate shoulders popped and cracked. She turned in time to see Gajeel do the same, releasing a nearly comical amount of cracking noises while stretching his back, before groaning and ruffling his hair.

"Mornin', shrimp" he grumbled, before dragging himself up and stretching some more. He then stood looking at her, as she sat still dazed and sleepy. Both had astronomical amounts of bed head, with his heir draped haphazardly over his face and shoulders, while hers was puffed out in every direction.

"Do yah want to take a shower, shrimp," the dragon slayer asked, snapping levy out of her reverie.

"Oh! Yes, do you have a towel I can use?" She said, climbing out of the large bed, and then nearly tripping on the massively oversized leg of the pants she was awkwardly regained balance, while getting flustered and blushing. She looked frankly comical, with her wild hair, baggy pants, and collarbone showing thought the gaping neck of her oversized shirt, who's sleeves went nearly a foot past her hands. Gajeel couldn't help but laugh at her appearance.

"Hey," she pouted," it's not like I have a choice in looking like this." Before marching about, still limping on her bad leg. She collected a fresh set of clothes from her bag, which had been abandoned in the living room, and Gajeel took this opportunity to appreciate how cute she looked. In his opinion, she looked frankly adorable in his clothes, face still slightly flushed, though he would never ever say anything to that effect. She then stood, lost for a moment, not remembering where the bathroom was.

"Gihi, it's that way shrimp," chuckled Gajeel, pointing at the correct door. Levy made her way there and he called after," the blue and white towel is clean!" To which she gave a muffled assent. After she had entered the shower, he noticed how cold the room was, with the snow still piling up outside. A log was thrown on the fire and lit, warming the room up. He then settled himself on the couch and got to trying to untangle his crazy mop of thick black hair. In that exact position is where levy found him after a short shower. She stood smirking at his tugging and muffled curses for a moment before deciding to take pity on him.

"Do you want some help," she giggled, before sitting behind him, and taking the brush from his hands. His movements seemed to still be limited from his injured shoulder, so Gajeel was actually glad fro the help, only putting up token resistance and a few mumbled protests, before surrendering.

Gajeel relaxed, as Levy carved gentle strokes through his hair, brushing much more softly than he had been. The two lapsed into a comfortable silence, with only the soft 'sshk sshk' of the brush and the crackle of the fire to break it. When levy finally stopped, he found himself feeling disappointed in the loss of contact. He decided to remedy this problem by returning the favor.

"Oi, shrimp... Do you want me to do yours now then?" He said, blushing slightly. Levy had to laugh at the image, but she also agreed readily. Her hair could be a pain in the ass to brush. The silence resumed, with the roles reversed. The large dragon slayer was doing his best to be gentle, and his hand kept brushing the small Mage due to the fact that he had given up on his injured right arm and was instead using his nondominant hand. When he finished, he decided to go take a shower.

When he returned, levy was in the same place he had left her, but she had discovered his small bookshelf and was reading a collection of old fairy tales.

"Oi, your wounds need re bandaging, right?" He asked, because he knew his did, and was worried about levy keeping quiet about it." If you leave the bandages damp, you'll get an infection."

At this, Levy grudgingly lifted up her sweater and allowed him to redo the bandage. While he was carrying out the task, Gajeel noticed something he never had before. Levy was scarred. Seriously. Her body was peppered with fine white or pink lines and patches, that no one ever noticed. She was so small and delicate and gentle, that people forgot that she too is a fairy tale wizard. She fights for her friends, and her guild, And goes on dangerous missions. Levy McGarden was even qualified for s-class exams, but even as her partner, Gajeel still forgot how strong she really was.

After he finished wrapping the wound on her stomach, she spoke up.

"I can do yours now," whilst blushing slightly. She remembered him also helping bandage her hip last night, but she had only consented because exhaustion and pain had clouded her mind. "Come on, then. Off with it," she said, blushing harder and gesturing at his shirt. He obliged, gaining a blush of his own. Now that the two of them were back in their right minds, the entirety of last night was an embarrassing, pain clouded haze. The both of them then sat in awkward silence while levy wrapped Gajeels torso. Then they sat on the couch, levy reading her book, and Gajeel sitting silently.

After a few moments of this, the large dragon slayer realized that neither of them had eaten since midday the day before. He lurches to his feet and went to the kitchen, and began clanging about, pulling out bowls and pans and ingredients. When the noise roused levy from her book, she wandered over to find him making omelets.

"Sit your ass down, I can do this much at least," he called out quite cheerfully, as he saw her entering. At this point it was probably mid afternoon, and as the two sat down for omelets, the relaxed atmosphere returned, and they chatted peacefully between them, almost forgetting their injuries, and the fact that they were essentially trapped together.

A. N.: so I probably should have put this in my last chapter. This is the first time I have put one of my written stories on the Internet, but any comment makes me happy. Even if it's to tell me my writing sucks. If it's boring or you have a suggestion, please let me know. Thank you very much for reading.


	3. Chapter 3

Whilst Gajeel and Levy were snowed in, they almost forgot about the outside world, however, the outside world did not forget about them. Many of the guild members were snowed into the guild hall, and Mira had been periodically calling up all of the absent members on the communication lacrima. She was surprised at the fact that the two hadn't been by to rap on the window to check up on the guild, like many of the other members.

Levy and Gajeel were interrupted from their soft discussion by the portable communication lacrima in Levys bag going off.

"Hello, Levy," chirped Mira, who remained bubbly despite the abysmal weather, " are you and Gajeel somewhere nearby? Did you get stuck on the train?" The two had been scheduled to return midday that day, and had only returned the night befor because of injuries.

"No, Mira. Gajeel and I are together at his house, we came back early after we both got injured. We are snowed in, but healthy and fine." Came Levys reply. Gajeel poked his head over the small girls shoulder, in order to see the lacrima as well.

"Hey Mira, are ya stuck in the guildhall, then?" He asked.

"Yes, in fact quite a few of us are. Jet and Droy are here, and so is Lilly. Also natsu, Lucy, Gray, and Juvia."

"Really!" Came the excited response from the blue haired Mage, "can you put Jet, Droy, and Lilly on for us?

At that point, Levy's excitable teammates took over the conversation for a bit, chattering on with Levy about their missions, and questioning her condition. They also made some veiled threats aimed at Gajeel. Neither of them had quite forgiven him, or really trusted him with their gentle partner (despite the fact that Levy is stronger than the two of them combined). Gajeel was mildly annoyed by this fact, though he understood why. At this point he was mostly trying to ignore Lilly making eyebrows at him from behind the two boys. Of course the cat happened to know everything about Gajeel, including, but not limited to, his attraction to Levy.

Mira, of course, also shipped those two. It was one of her hobbies in the guild, and sometimes master Makarov would join in and they would make bets on who would get with whom, when, who would make the first move, that sort of thing. She had long held a certainty of their strong mutual attraction, and nudged them together for missions whenever she could. She had managed to get Levys teammates out of the way, off on a mission she knew they wouldn't need levy for, before setting up the one with Levy and Gajeel to go off on together. Things seemed to be going extraordinarily well.

" Did I hear you mention injuries? How hurt are you?" Questioned the white haired barmaid concernedly, "nothing too bad for me, but neither of us can move too well right now" "yeah, a few cuts and bruises, one or two more serious ones, but we got them all wrapped up," came the reassurances from the two mages.

"Well if we really need to, we could dig you up and send Wendy, but you seem to be alright. Try to stay there for now, and dig yourselves out when the snow lets up." The noise in the background of their conversation picked up, which signaled to Mira that it was time to go.

"Take care you two. I need to go," said Mira, prompting farewells from Levy and Gajeel, before shutting off the lacrima. The two sat in silence for a moment, before levy wandered off to find her book. Gajeel flopped on the couch and stared at the flames in the fire place, reflecting on his relationship with the tiny blue haired Mage. It had started out very badly, to say the least, but she had still been among the first to accept him. After she has made not a sound in protest upon his introduction to the guild, he had sworn to himself that he would make it up to her, and redeem himself. Since then, Gajeel had made it his job to protect her, and sometimes he succeeded, but sometimes he failed, and he hated himself for those times. The one thing he was wholly unprepared for was developing strong feelings for the adorable girl. Honestly, he had never in his life used the word adorable seriously, even in his mind to himself, before meeting her. My he large dragon slayer was snapped back to reality when the little bookworm marched back into the living room, book in hand, and plopped herself on the couch next to him, leaning on him slightly. As Gajeel looked at her, he couldn't help but feel more relaxed, and he decided that for now he would just enjoy their time together.

A.N.: I was completely unprepared for the fact that people actually read what I'm writing. Honestly, this is middle of the night rambling, and I don't know where I'm going with this story. Thank you for your wonderful comments, they make my heart happy.


	4. Chapter 4

The two spent the evening comfortably, relaxed on the couch, snuggled together. It got later an later, until the two got sleepy. Gajeel let out a yawn.

" I'm gonna turn in, shrimp. You coming?" He questioned, stretching and heading towards the bathroom. "Yeah. I'll use the bathroom after you, she said. After the two of them had made their bed preparations, they climbed into bed, only to suddenly become extremely aware of their sudden proximity. The first night that the two had spent in this bed, they had immediately passed out in a haze of exhaustion and pain. Now was different. They were tired, but both were wide awake and far too aware of the other.

As Gajeel lay awake, feeling the cool air of the room and trying to modulate his breathing, a small voice piped up from the other side of the bed.

"Gajeel," Levy whispered shyly, "can I sleep next to you? I'm really cold," Gajeel rolled over towards the center of the bed to face her, " sure shrimp. Cm'ere" he grunted. Levy crawled across the bed and snuggled into his chest, and the large dragons layer wrapped his arms around her slowly. He could feel the much smaller girl shivering slightly. If there had been any light in the room, both would have seen torrid blushes across the faces of the other.

The two relaxed into each other, and slept peacefully through the night. They woke much earlier than the day before. Levy was the first to wake up, and she was befuddled by the fact that her movements seemed limited, and she was being pressed against something big and warm. She glanced up, to find the sleeping face of Gajeel. The normally scowling dragon slayer looked so unguarded and peaceful that levy couldn't help but sit and just watch him breathe, for several minutes.

The small Mage finally decided to get up and shower. She somehow struggled out from under a large arm, but when her feet hit the ground, levy stumbled, becoming aware of the throbbing pain in her hip. Deciding to ignore it for now, she continued on her morning tasks, gather ing a change of clothes and heading to the bathroom to freshen up.

Gajeel awoke several minutes later, disturbed by the loss of warmth by his side. As he sat up and scratched his back, stretched and yawned, levy exited the bathroom, still limping. The dragon slayer picked up on this immediately.

"Oi shrimp, you okay? Your walking funny," he called out. She jumped a little, surprised to see him awake, "yeah, " came the reply, accompanied by a slightly pained grin," I'm fine. It's just still healing."

"I don't think so, you're walking worse than you were yesterday," Gajeel persisted, concerned now, for his delicate friend. "Let me take a look at it," he requested, to which levy blushed and shook her head. "Come on, Lev. Your health is more important than modesty." At this, levy poured and mumbled "fine," before pulling her pants down to bare her hip. Gajeel shoved his hair out of his face, and did his best to ignore her bared skin, in favor of the bandages wrapped tightly over the wound. As he pulled them away, it became clear that the wound was slightly infected. The skin around it was red and inflamed, and warm to touch. The wound itself was also still weeping slightly. After he treated it, and rewrapped it with fresh bandages, Gajeel caught Levy by the shoulder.

"Hey," he said softly, looking directly in her eyes," I don't want you to do this. I don't want you hiding your pain from me. This could have gotten bad if you had left it. I still have my promise to make you big. Just... Let me help you." At the end of his little speech, the large gruff man glanced away, a blush dusted across his face. Levy's own face was tomato red, and all she could will herself to do was squeak "okay," in response. The two carried on with their morning routine, but it felt like something had shifted in their relationship. The mages found it hard to meet each other's gazes as they carried on, lighting the fire and preparing breakfast. The silence carried on, as they each contemplated their own muddled feelings.

Gajeel was especially conflicted. He was well aware of why Levy's two overbearing teammates disliked them going on missions alone together. They honestly had good reason to distrust him. The dragon slayer had no idea why Levy didn't hate him. Of all people, she had seemed to be the first to accept him into the guild. He wanted to protect her, to prove to himself that he was worth her. Gajeel had never before really agonized over romantic relationships. He may have had a few, but nothing particularly deep. He had also never really hesitated to ask out someone he was interested in. Levy is different.

The little blue haired mages thoughts followed much the same path. She had never had a committed romantic relationship, but she had read a few too many romance novels, and was freaking out a little bit at her close proximity to the man who occupied many of her thoughts (not to mention daydreams). The events of the day Gajeel attacked her and her teammates still sometimes haunted her nightmares, though she would never ever tell him. That alone would crush the dragon slayer. Levy was well aware that he was a completely different person now. A person she happened to be in love with, or at least harbor major attraction towards.

Both resolved to get over their fears sometime in the near future, though when specifically was iffy. Gajeel maintained worries about lingering distrust, whilst Levy harbored fears about her feelings not being reciprocated. As the two companions settled in for their second day trapped together, they resolved to do their best, in their own way.

A.N.: well here we are. Things should probably get more exciting in the next few chapters, maybe? I dunno. But hey, you guys are great, and you read my writing willingly! Please comment, they make my heart happy so thank you very much.


	5. Chapter 5

Breakfast that morning was a slightly uncomfortable affair, with the two carrying on unwilling to meet the others eyes. Levy was lost in thought, thinking through her catalogue of romance novels, trying to think what to do in this situation. She kept coming up with ideas, and then nixing them. Many of the novels centered around forward men, and a coquettish girl, who allowed herself to be chased. Based on his previous behavior, and their past, the frustrated little Mage knew that Gajeel would never make the first move, at least not without a lot of nudging. This was a problem, considering her shy disposition. She figured that maybe the incessant chatter from Lilli and Mira might stir him into action, but the chances were slim.

Levy was well aware of the so called "shipping" going on in the guild. She actually knew most of everyone's relationship gossip. She found that when one is quiet and keeps their mouth shut, people forget you are there, and then have obvious gossip sessions within earshot. From her time on the edge of the bar, she knew of the bets going between the master and Mira on who between Natsu and Lucy would make the first move, among others. That stuff was all interesting, but honestly, the little Mage had more pressing concerns.

She sighed, and then went to clean her dishes, before glancing at the window. It seemed to have snowed steadily through the past day and night, and it now reached well past the window. She could no longer tell whether it was snowing or not. It was general consensus that there was no point digging themselves out until the snow let up, so she figured Mira would contact them using the communication lacrima when that happened. Or Natsu would break through the window after setting himself on fire and challenge Gajeel to a fight. One or the other.

In the meantime, Gajeel had finished his food as well, and went to stand I the middle of the room. He looked somewhat frustrated.

" there's nothing to do!" He grumbled, bored. At this point, he proceeded to yank his shirt off and start doing push ups in the middle of the floor.

" What are you doing?!" Squeaked Levy, who was very surprised to have turned around to such a sight. "I'm gettin' flabby," he grunted, "gotta do at least some training, and there's no room for proper combat practice."

"You stop right now!" Commanded Levy, eying the still present bandages, "you'll hurt your shoulder even worse." At this, he grunted out an unintelligible response and then, Without missing a beat, the dragonslayer switched to one armed push ups. At this point, Levy could only sit and watch. He carried on like this for some minutes, before flopping onto his stomach remaining there for a moment, before rolling over and doing sit ups. Levy did her absolute best to not stare, with limited success.

Gajeel himself felt a bit odd, noticing her eyes on him, but he did his best not to pay attention, instead focusing on not going soft. His regular training regimen lasts for about two hours, but because they were trapped inside, he was limited in exercise opportunities, and so he cut the workout down to a half hour. When he was done, Levy had found a different book to bury her nose in, and was sitting cross legged on the couch. She had her red glasses on, and she was obviously paying him no attention. He took the moment to examine her features unabashedly, scrutinizing the dim light reflecting in her eyes, the contours of her cheeks and jaw, her small lips, pursed, as she processed the words in her book at a nearly inhuman speed.

As Levy came to the end of the chapter of the book she had been reading, she glanced up, only to find Gajeels face mere inches from hers. The two held eye contact for several long seconds, just gazing into the depths of each other's eyes silently. The spell was broken quickly, and a blush covered both of their faces as they comprehended what had happened.

"I-I'm gonna go shower then. I got all sweaty," Gajeel grumbled awkwardly, hoping to break the tension. "Yeah, you sort of smell," Levy chuckled awkwardly. As he headed towards the bathroom, Levy questioned what on earth has just happened. Honestly, she had been tempted to lean forward just a few inches, and press her lips to his. Of course she hadn't done that though. God, she wished she was brave enough to do such a thing.

Once he got out of the shower and exited the bathroom fully dressed, he plopped himself on the couch next to her. Levy noticed that he had managed to work his hair into a sopping wet, tangled mess again. She sighed to herself, because he seemed to have every intention of leaving it that way.

"You know if you leave your hair like that, it will be a pain in the ass to brush later," she found herself saying, before grabbing a hairbrush and, ignoring his protests, beginning to brush his hair out again. She sat, struggling with the knots, muttering a soft "honestly.." To herself, before falling into silence. Just like the day before, the two found themselves relaxing at the noise of the fire and the soft rasp of the hairbrush.

A.N.: this chapter was really hard to write. I want to keep ramping up the romantic tension, but I also happen to be the most awkward and unromantic person ever in real life. Gah! Well whatever. I wrote it. Keep commenting, because it makes me happy and you guys are great.


	6. Chapter 6

The second full day in the house passed uneventfully after the morning. Levy managed to work her way through the entirety of the limited book collection in Gajeels house, and Gajeel successfully pestered levy into making some solid script: iron for him. He then ate half of it immediately and tinkered and messed around with the rest, sculpting little shapes and things, before eating most of them. Unbeknownst to Levy, he actually made a tiny sculpture of her, complete with a little book. It was safely secreted into his pocket, hopefully never to be seen.

There was another call from Mira to the communication lacrima. This time Lucy was standing with her, looking unreasonably pleased at the sight of Gajeel in the background. They had a chat for a while on what was going on in the guild hall, before Natsu came to see what was happening, and ended up in a fight with Gajeel. The lacrima was shut off shortly afterwards.

Soon enough, it was late in the evening, and the two found themselves yawning yet again, feeling vaguely unsatisfied, having done nothing with the day. They clambered into bed, Levy once again tripping on the leg of her pants, barely giving thought to the fact that they were sharing a bed. The day had given them far too much to think on for them to care. Levy curled up by the larger mages side, and fell to sleep peacefully.

Much later, in the wee hours of the morning, Levy found herself unexpectedly jostled awake. Gajeel was stirring about, obviously having some sort of disturbing nightmare. He looked so miserable, so levy decided to wake him. She sat up, and placed her hand on his shoulder in an attempt to wake Gajeel, only to find herself jerked to the side suddenly.

Upon feeling contact, but still half in the nightmare, memories of fighting, killing, and terror still dancing theough his mind, the dragonslayer acted on reflex, pinning the "attacker" down, and cocking a fist back. He came back to himself at the sound of a frightened squeak below him. As his vision cleared, he saw Levy below him, looking more terrified of him than he had ever wanted to see her again.

When levy found herself pinned down, she stared into the eyes of the man above her, but they weren't the eyes she knew. His Crimson eyes had returned to the cold vicious eyes of the man who had attacked and nearly killed her and her teammates. She couldn't help but feel the same terror and helplessness as had assaulted her before, and found that she couldn't do more than squeak in terror. She saw Gajeel freeze, and his eyes slowly faded back to those of her friend and comrade.

Gajeel immediately heaved himself upright, burying his head in his hands. All he could see was the terrified look on the girls face. Terrified of him, again. Honestly, he was too ashamed to look at her. Her face, looking far too similar to that day.

"God, shrimp. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Levy got the feeling that he wasn't only talking about just now. She could see his pain, the way he was refusing to look at her. She decided that she had to do something. "It's okay," she whispered. "I'm not afraid." As she said this, she crawled across the bed and wrapped her arms around his neck, cradling his head. She held him like that for who knows how long, before he extracted his arms and wrapped them around her. Gajeel held her tightly, pulled her body close to his. He seemed to be trying to squeez reassurance from her, which she was all too willing to give. He buried his head in her shoulder, and though he didn't cry, just allowing himself to be vulnerable with her calmed him so much.

After what seemed like hours, Gajeel let go of Levy, and got up. He headed out of the bedroom, and didn't come back in. Levy didn't have the heart to follow him after what had happened, and she was exhausted and sleep deprived. Levy simply collapsed on top of the covers, and fell asleep, despite the now cold and empty sheets.

When morning came, Levy sat up blearily, shivering in the cold morning air. As she stumbled into the living room, Gajeel was sitting on the couch, rings under his eyes, obviously having not slept at all for the rest of the night.

"Gajeel," she asked hesitantly, " are you okay?"

"Yeah, shrimp. I'm fine," he responded hoarsely, obviously not fine. She went over and say by him, mindless of her crazy bedhead, and the fact that she looked just in general like a wild child. She got the feeling that his problems were the sort that only got worse when you're alone.

It was actually still quite early in the morning, and Levy was tired from last night, so she found herself drifting off again. Though she tried to will herself awake, the warmth of the fire and the warm body besides her slowly lulled her to sleep.

Gajeel was surprised to feel her slump against him. He had expected her to feel uncomfortable with him, maybe even become afraid of him again. Honestly he had been terrified. But as he watched her calm face, he came to the realization that she wasn't afraid. Her actions proved that. She had held him, and slept besides him. As he contemplated this, and his turbulent mind calmed, he realized just how exhausted he was. Now that he was no longer agitated, he started to drift off, resting his head gently on Levys shoulder.

A.N.: sensitive Gajeel! God relationships are hard to write. I think I only have a few more chapters in me, though I am going into this totally without a plan. Meh. Your reviews make my heart happy, even if you want to insult my writing, or criticize me, or suggest stuff, or whatever. I love you guys.


	7. Chapter 7

When Gajeel finally woke up, Levy was no longer leaning against his side, and he immediately noticed the loss. He also noticed a blanket placed over him and some clattering and quiet humming from the kitchen. When he got up to investigate, he found Levy standing with her back to him, whisking something, and humming while dancing to her own tune. He noticed that she had showered, dressed and brushed her hair, and he wondered just how long he had been asleep for. She turned slightly, reaching for something, and noticed him standing in the doorway. Her face immediately broke into a sunny smile.

" oh, you're up!" She said cheerfully. "I'm making French toast, want to help?"

"Sure, whatcha need?" He asked, deciding that if she was acting normal, then so would he.

"I can't find the vanilla." Gajeel obligingly fetched it from the cupboard, and then simply stood observing her again. He could smell the soap she had used, and over the past couple days, spent at his house, his scent had covered her, and his entire house was permeated by the scent of her. Honestly, he would miss that when she left.

As she dropped the bread in the pan, the dragon slayer realized that he still looked like he had when he had gotten out of bed. Baggy clothes, bedhead, and not the freshest breath. Not exactly the way you want to present yourself to the girl that often find yourself resisting the urge to grab and kiss senseless.

With this in mind, Gajeel left to clean himself up. When he returned, levy had finished up, and made a pile on a plate.

"Eat!" She chirped, already taking a slice from the stack. "Do you have maple syrup?" She questioned, getting up to wander around the kitchen again. "Yeah

The scene was very happy and domestic, with the two of them smiling happily and calmly. It seemed a little too good to be true. Though he was happy that Levy held no fear towards him, the nightmares had brought up memories of his past, all the more reasons why he could never be good enough for her. Tension seemed to hide behind the bright and happy facade.

Levy had noticed Gajeels discontent, and decided that she would try to snap him out of it, but she also found herself curious. What was so horrible in his past that he would act like that? She understood that his past in phantom lord was a touchy subject, so she of course knew better than to bring it up. There was a reason she always tried to wear sleeves over her arms with her sleeveless dresses. After Gajeel joined the guild, she noticed him occasionally looking at her, with vast pools of regret in his eyes. They would linger on her arms and wrists, where scars, still quite fresh at the time, lingered from where he nailed her to a tree. She decided then that she would cover them, as a sign that she had forgiven him. Even now that the scars had faded, she retained the habit most of the time.

Gajeel was mostly lost in thought about the events of his past, when a thought came to him. Most of the younger people in the guild were there for a reason. He had never heard Levy mention any sort of family, and he knew that she lived alone. What is it that happened to Levy that made her go to a rowdy Mage guild, instead of living with family like the rest of the people her age?

"Hey Lev, when did you join the guild?" He saw her pause, swallow, and seem to contemplate how to answer. A slight shadow seemed to flicker behind her eyes.

"I joined when I was twelve or thirteen, after Erza, Natsu, Grey, and Mira were already there" she said, still maintaining a smile, though now it seemed a bit forced.

"What made you join? That's not what normal twelve year olds do?," he questioned, watching her face carefully to know if he should stop. Her smile had now fallen completely, and she looked pensive.

"I lived in a very superstitious village, way in the country when I was a child. My family wasn't the best to begin with, but when the magic started manifesting, they got worse. I ran away, and spent months wandering, pick pocketing to survive, before Makarov took me in." She looked contemplative and sad. The large dragonslayer got the feeling that she was leaving a lot out, but he knew better than to press her. This wasn't the sort of thing that you want to bug people about.

Levy took her dishes out, and went to grab her book, rereading it now, and Gajeel was at a loss for what to do, so he simply went and read over her shoulder. As he sat there, watching her lips move slightly, silently mouthing the words, his mind turned to possibly the worst topic possible. He found himself contemplating just how attracted to Levy he actually was. He wanted her to tell him everything. Everything that had ever hurt her, everything she loved, he wanted to know it all. He wanted to be able to hug all of her pain away, and just be there, but he can't. Suddenly, Gajeels mind decided to become unreasonable reckless. Why couldn't he just kiss her? Why not just hug her, the same way she had last night? Just hug her so tight that all of the broken pieces fit back together.

With that in mind, Gajeel called out "hey Levy," and as soon as her face turned towards him, he placed a soft kiss on her lips. He pulled back, apprehensive, and looked at her. Levy looked startled and her face was bright red. She stayed still for a moment, looking into his eyes, before grabbing his collar and kissing him, harder than before. As she pulled back, she whispered,

"You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that for" Gajeel took in her face, flushed red and adorable, and broke out into a huge grin. He wrapped his arms around her, and pulled her close to him.

"It may be obvious at this point, but God Levy, I'm in love with you, and now I'm pretty sure you feel the same way, " he said, lips placed right next to her ear. She giggled in response.

"You idiot," she mumbled, " I've loved you for ages."

"You have no idea how difficult it has been to keep my hands off of you for the past few days,"

"Well," Levy said, smirking, "now you don't have to bother."

At this, they kissed again, but this time there was nothing hesitant about it. They were insistent, and passionate, and sensual. It seemed like they were letting out all of the repressed feelings, all the fear and anxiety of the past. They stayed like that for hours, alternately kissing, and talking or flirting softly. The book lay forgotten as the two finally took the opportunity to talk and explore each other and their feelings and intricacies.

A. N.: I dunno how well this chapter came out, but it was really hard to write. Some of it might not be vary good. I will probably write one more as sort of an epilogue. But yeah, they kissed! Finally! Anyways, please comment, complain, suggest stuff, whatever, and thanks to those who have. Thanks for reading this guys.


	8. Chapter 8

Still on the couch, kissing, is where Lilly found them, when he climbed through the window to let them know that the snow had stopped and that Natsu was being sent to melt them out. They hadn't answered the lacrima, so Lilly was recruited to go talk to them. When he arrived, the two actually didn't notice until the clicking of a camera lens disturbed them.

"Lilly!" Squeaked Levy, pulling back and trying to untangle her hands from Gajeels hair, "wh-what are you doing here?" Her face was practically glowing red, and she was scrambling to put herself back together, flattening messed up hair and crawling off of the much larger mages lap. The cat hovered there, laughing his heart out, with a smug smirk on his face. Gajeel leaped up and began to chase Lilly, trying to get the camera. As he was frantically flying away from his friend, Lilly somehow found the time to shout,

"Guys, the guild is sending natsu to melt the snow, he should be here soon," as they heard this, a wave of flame washed past the window, melting everything. Water dropped down the window and seeped under the Door, when Natsu kicked open the door and marched in, his usual shit eating grin planted on his face.

"GAJEEL, FIGHT ME!" He crowed, standing on the threshold. Lilly took the opportunity to fly out the door and off in the direction of the guild.

"Dammit flame brain," grumbled Gajeel.

"Hey, I just got you out of a snow pile! You owe me a fight." Said Natsu. "Why were you chasing him anyways?" Natsu asked, completely oblivious to what had happened.

As they walked towards the guild, they made conversation, or at lease Levy and Natsu did. Gajeel was mostly silent, only contributing here and there. The walk from Gajeels house to the guild was fairly far, and as they walked, he noticed Levy starting to limp again.

"C'mere shrimp," he said, and when she approached, he hoisted her up over his shoulder.

"G-Gajeel," she squeaked," what are you doing," before struggling and trying to get down.

"You were limpin'. Is your leg acting up?" He asked, ignoring her struggles. At this she stopped squirming. Levy was actually quite glad for the lift, as her leg was still quite painful. It had only been three days.

"Yeah, thanks." She responded, and she remained there as they finally approached the guild hall. He contemplated setting her down, but she wasn't complaining, and he didn't want her teammates to put their hands all over her. He figured that Lilly and Mira would have already notified the entire guild hall, so there was no point in trying to be subtle. Levy had a similar train of thought, though she did want to talk to her teammates. Their distrust of Gajeel would get old really quickly, what with the two of them being in a relationship.

As they entered the guildhall they could feel multiple pairs of eyes on them. They also saw money exchange hands in multiple locations. Levy saw this and mumbled to Gajeel,

"just how many people were betting on us?" He simply shrugged in response, and she continued " I knew about Mira and master, but not the rest."

He could see Lilly in the back corner, waggling his eyebrows and looking ridiculously self satisfied. He set Levy gently on her feet and she was immediately swarmed by Lucy and her teammates. He wandered off to strangle Lilly in their usual corner while Levy stayed to talk.

Lucy approached Levy, very excited to discuss any and all new developments.

"You finally got with Gajeel! Who made the first move? Is he a good kisser? Is he good in bed?" Lucy asked all of these in quick succession, barely giving Levy time to think. She also said it quite loudly, causing Levy to go bright red.

"Whoa whoa, okay, um.." Stuttered Levy as she attempted to organize her thoughts, "yes, him, very, and I wouldn't know... Yet." She responded to each in order. Lucy was very interested to know everything that had happened during their time spent alone. She meant that in absolutely the most suggestive way possible. As she told Lucy what happened, Lucy also told her the events of the past few days locked in the guildhall. Everyone slept in the main room like a huge slumber party. After a bit Mira came over and joined them.

"I think there's something Lucy is forgetting to tell you~" she said in a sing song voice, once the two had finished updating each other. Levy looked at Lucy with her eyebrows raised, but Lucy blushed and looked away.

"Luce, what's up," said Levy, already guessing from the blush coating her face and Mira's smirk what was up. Mira decided to answer for her.

"Oh I happened to catch Lucy and Natsu making out in the basement storeroom," said the barmaid, looking quite satisfied.

"And you didn't tell me this before?!" Cries Levy excitedly. She had heard a lot from her friend about how oblivious the pink haired boy was, and she was glad that something had finally developed between them. she then pestered Lucy for everything that had led up to it.

While Levy and Lucy were catching up, Gajeel found himself confronted by Levy's two teammates.

"So you and levy are together now." Said Jet, while trying his very best to look intimidating. It wasn't really working against the heavily muscled, scarred, pierced, dragonslayer. He found himself not really paying attention to the two mages trying to threaten him.

"Christ, how many people did that damn cat show those photos too?" He grumbled, as they continued their lecture. They were going on about how they would kill him if he broke her heart, the usual. They really didn't have to worry about that. Dragons mate for life, so even if she left him, he would never love again. He would only ever be able to truly love her, and even if he had any other relationships, they would be shallow and meaningless. He had known for a while that she was his mate, and had intended to explain it to her at a later date. Eventually the two seemed satisfied with their lecture, and they left him alone.

Once Levy finished catching up with Lucy and greeting her teammates, she scanned the room for Gajeel and found him in his regular corner table. She walked up, and sat next to him slightly shyly. The dragon slayer looped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him, grinning down at her surprised squeak and letting out a "gihi". The two relaxed there in the guild hall, and chatted about trivialities and possible next missions. They also arranged an official date. They had no idea that Lilly was still photographing them from across the guildhall.

A. N.: so that's the epilogue. I want to add an extra chapter, but I can't decide between a wedding, and a scene with their future kids. Please comment with an opinion. If you don't have an opinion, comment on anything else. Thank you so much for reading my story, and I love you guys. You make my heart happy.


	9. Chapter 9

On the morning of her wedding, Levy was awakened by all of her bridesmaids breaking into her hotel room at once. Lucy, Erza, Juvia, Wendy, Cana and Mirajane were all there chattering about the schedule for the day. Levy dragged herself upright, wearing the same oversized t- shirt Gajeel had lent her years ago when they first got together. She stretched and rubbed her eyes as her excited friends came into focus.

Gajeels day started in a remarkably similar fashion, if slightly more violent. A bunch of the guys came to wake him up, and Natsu jumped in through the window. He managed to land right on the iron dragonslayer. He got punched through the wall for his trouble. He sat up, groaning from his slight hangover, and observed the scene before him. Natsu was climbing back through the hole in the wall, grinning like a maniac, while Jellal, Gray, Lilly, Loke, Laxus and Elfman stood around, just generally making too much noise.

The wedding actually wasn't until that night, so the group had the whole day to prepare. The girls were having a grand time, ordering food from room service, giving each other facials and painting nails. They also took the time to catch up on relationship gossip. Erza had gotten married to Jellal about a year ago, and was very excited for her friend. She was also preparing to tell them all some very exciting news.

"Guys..." Said the fiery Mage, acting unusually hesitant," so, I'm pregnant." She said, in her typical blunt fashion. The group was quiet in shock for a moment, before erupting into excited chatter and congratulations.

"Oh my god, congratulations," exclaimed Lucy, " how far along?"

"Only one month. Only Jellal and I know so far. " she said smiling to herself. Levy smiled at her friend. Erza had an incredibly happy successful marriage, and she was hopeful that hers would work out as well. As they sat around, waiting for nails to dry, Levy found herself getting nervous. What if she forgot her vows? What if he didn't like her dress?

Lucy seemed to notice her friends discomfort, and wrapped an arm around her encouragingly.

"Levy," said the blonde Mage, in complete seriousness," you have to get to work, and make some cute babies for me to babysit." This succeeded in snapping levy out of her fugue. Her face flushed red, and Levy got so flustered that she forgot her butterflies for the moment.

Her friends insisted upon pampering her, and after token resistance, she yielded. Levy chose to take the moments of inaction to think back to the events leading up to this day. Four years of dating, many missions together, hundreds of injuries from said missions, and one proposal, all obsessively photographed by Lilly, had led to where she was now. Levy smiled down at the ring on her hand, with her nails painted a pale peach he proposed, It had been on a date that seemed normal, but with Gajeel acting more nervous than he had in years. They had arranged a picnic, and Gajeel fidgeted the entire time. Halfway through it had started to rain, and they decided to go back to Gajeels place, as they were in a park on the outskirts of town near where he lived. When they made it inside, they were both soaked, and Levy was shivering. Gajeel lit a fire, and lent Levy a massively oversized change of clothes. When she exited the bathroom, he was standing in the middle of the living room, blushing bright red, and glaring at the floor.

"Shr- Levy," he started, stumbling over his words," I- I love you, and, well, I wanted to ask you... Will you marry me?" He finished, finally meeting her gaze. He was holding the ring out towards her, silently begging for a positive response. Levy stood still for a moment, barely believing what had just happened. She took a few steps forward, before flinging her arms around his neck and kissing him fiercely.

"Of course you idiot,"she responded, grinning ear to ear, tears in her eyes.

"Gihi, no need to cry shrimp." He mumbled, before pulling her into another kiss. They were disturbed yet again by Lilly, who had known that Gajeel would propose, and had followed to take pictures. Gajeel chased him around for an hour, got in a fistfight, and then calmed down I time to cook dinner for himself and Levy.

As she returned to herself, levy realized that it was midday, and just about time to begin preparing herself. The ceremony wasn't until seven, but the girls were planning on all getting ready together, and they would take a while. The other girls all departed to shower and shave, and collect their dresses, makeup and beauty supplies. When they returned, the room turned into a whirlwind of activity. Everyone was in a robe, not yet wearing the pale peach colored bridesmaid dresses, and frantically doing hair or makeup. Lucy was trying to force Levy into some frankly embarrassing lingerie, while Juvia was blow drying her flyaway blue hair. Erza finished her makeup and political her hair in an elaborate updo in record time, and began on Levys makeup.

She got her hands on a mirror, and watched as Erza smoothed foundation over her skin, not quite managing to cover the scar that crossed from beneath her ear to under her eye. That was from her first S-class solo mission, and held another of her precious memories with Gajeel. Once her makeup was done, Erza moved out of the way, and Juvia devoted her full attention to Levys hair, pinning it up, and capturing the stray strands with pins. Everyone finally slipped on their dresses, and Levy finally pulled on the wedding dress, having yeilded to Lucy's bugging.

As Levy was laced in, preparation was also taking place in the boys room. Gajeel had showered, and brushed his hair, wishing Levy was there to do it for him. He put on his suit, while the other guys did the same in their own rooms. His hair was pulled into a ponytail, and he read through his vows one last time.

At the chapel, Gajeel stood at the altar, flanked by Lilly, who was acting as the best man, with the entirety of fairy tail, as well as some of the members of other guilds that the fairy tale mages had come to know seated. The bridesmaids made their way in, and he could feel himself getting more nervous by the second.

He got tunnel vision as he saw Levy enter. She seemed to practically float down the aisle. She was beautiful, every day, but right now she was radiant. He couldn't even hear the music playing, or see Makarov holding her arm as she walked up. When she came to stand in front of of him, the little Mage gave him a cute smile, before turning to the minister. When the time came to give their vows, Gajeel spoke first.

"I promise to protect you when you need it, and to reach out to you when I need it. I promise that I will be there for you, even if I have to run across the country or swim across the sea, because I could never live without you." He finished his vows, and noticed tears in her eyes. Now it was time for Levys.

"I promise to be there for you, to be by your side and keep you strong, and to hold you when you need to be weak. I promise to never leave you, and to fight with you through our struggles. I promise to kiss away your pain, and to never hide mine." She smiled up at him, as people in the audience started crying. Jet and Droy were bawling noisily, while Mira and Lucy held each other, sobbing quietly.

When the minister told them to kiss, Gajeel swept her up, and kisses her as passionately as was appropriate in public. The little blue haired girl responded enthusiastically, to say the least.

At the reception, they had a dinner and cake, with Erza and the master managing to prevent most of the fistfights. Lilly and Natsu did manage to smash Gajeels face into the cake, but levy helped calm him down, and Erza slapped the other two, keeping the situation from escalating. The best man, Lilly, and maid of honor, Lucy, both gave speeches. Lilly had also managed to compile a slideshow of photos of the two, from the photo he took when they first got together all the way up to the proposal. There were multiple shots that neither of the happy couple ever remembered being taken, especially some from across the guildhall, or that seemed to have been taken stealthily from bushes, or an unreasonable distance. Needless to say, Gajeel and levy were slightly creeped out.

The reception was fun, with loud music and dancing, and drunken antics. The entirety of fairy tail was there, plus members of other guilds, so when it inevitably devolved into a fight, it was of a truly epic scale. The festivities went on for hours, and when it came time to leave, most of the guild was heavily intoxicated, and stumbling over one another, back to their hotel rooms.

Gajeel and Levy made their way to their own hotel room, with some of the people they passed giving them smirks and raised eyebrows. Both of them tended to be on the more antisocial side, so being the center of attention in such a huge crowd really took it out of them. Levy flopped onto the bed immediately upon entering the room, and attempted to remove her hairpins. Gajeel promptly distracted her by placing his lips over hers. They were going to have some fun, tiredness be damned.

A. N.: holy crap this turned out long. Well there's the wedding. I hope you guys enjoy it. People just said both, when I asked wedding or kids, so I figured, what the heck both. The next chapter will be a scene with some gajevy babies. I hope you enjoyed this, and thank you so much for your comments, you guys make my heart happy.


	10. Chapter 10

Lucy sighed, listening to the chatter of playing children. Her hyperactive, pink haired daughter, Nara, was dragging around a shorter quieter child. This was Gajeel and Levys daughter, Inessa. She had inherited many of Her physical traits from her father, including his thick black hair. It was currently cut short, because a certain pink haired child set it on fire a few weeks ago. Lucy was looking after her, while her parents, both now S-class mages, were on a mission.

She was currently unable to take any missions, on account of her massive baby bump. Because of this, Lucy had been looking after the two crazy three year olds. Actually, Lucy was getting worried, as the two had been due back late yesterday. She sighed, figuring that hardly anything ever goes as planned, and just hoped that they had just run a little late. The lack of ability to go on missions was annoying for the blonde, though at this point, standing up was exhausting. Natsu, of course tried to help any way possible, but the pink haired dragonslayer was far to excitable, and usually ended up stressing her out, through no fault of his own.

The two children, born only months apart, had become fast friends. Nara took after her father heavily, with fire magic, and an excitable personality. She also shared his bright pink hair, which she, and the other girls in her preschool class loved. She seemed to have inherited Lucy's intense girliness. Inessa was much quieter by comparison, because though she got her fathers dark hair and red eyes, she also got Levys calm disposition, and had shown an interest in solid script magic. Despite their differences, the two had been friends since they had been alive, taking to each other immediately.

Finally, a banging came on the door. The two girls ran over, knowing that Gajeel and Levy were due. As they tried open the locked door, Lucy heaved herself up to get the door. When she opened it, there stood the pair. They both looked a little worse for wear, with Levy favoring her left leg, and Gajeel still looking a little sick from the train ride. Despite their obvious exhaustion, the two perked up immediately at the site of their daughter. She skipped joyfully at her mother, who hoisted her up onto her hip. There was a slight twinge of discomfort on her face, but it was enough for her much taller husband to grab the little girl, crowing,

"What, daddy doesn't get a hug?" Inessa shrieked in laughter, and Gajeel accompanied it with his characteristic 'gihihi'. While that was going on, Levy wandered over to Lucy.

" was she good?" Asked the tired Mage, smiling at her friend.

"Yeah, mostly. It's nice for Nara to have someone to play with," said Lucy, smiling at the children. "How are you?" Asked Levy, directing her gaze towards her friends swollen midsection. She was honestly kind of surprised that her friend wanted another child. Just one was already a handful. Lucy seemed absolutely thrilled to have another child, though.

"Good. Natsu tries to help where he can, but God, I just get tired so easily." Sighed Lucy, making her way back to the couch to sit down. The group made their way into the living room of the apartment that she shared with Natsu, who was due home in a few hours. Levy seated herself next to her, while both of the girls tried to clamber into her lap, Nara going on about 'auntie Levy' and Inessa eager to tell her about her school day. Gajeel seated himself in a chair near bye.

As Levy turned her full attention to the girls, laughing and tickling them, Gajeel took the opportunity to observe his family. He really was so proud and in love with both his wife and child. He remembered one incident at the preschool, where the typically shy and quiet Inessa had gotten in a fight with another child. Why? Well apparently the boy had called Levy ugly because of the scar on her face. He had been called by an angry principal, after Nara decided to join in and set the boys shirt on fire. He, Levy, Natsu and Lucy felt no need to punish their children for that incident. Inessa may have gotten Levys personality for the most part, but she definitely had his fierce loyalty and love for her family.

At this point, both Inessa and Nara seemed to be winding down, eyelids drooping, though they were fighting sleep with all they had. Gajeel and Levy were eager to return home and have a full night of sleep. They said their goodbyes, with the two girls hugging tearfully, despite the fact that they would see each other tomorrow, and the family departed.

As they walked, Gajeel hoisted his little daughter, petit like her mother, up onto his shoulders and supported her as she nodded off. When they got to their home, she was tucked into bed, and the two were almost out of the room, when she stirred just awake enough to ask for a bedtime story. Levy gave her husband a look that said 'go' before settling next to the bed with a book of fairy tails. She softly read through part of beauty and the beast, until she saw the little hits eyelids droop, and her breathing deepen. At this, she planted a kiss on her forehead and crept out of the room.

She met Gajeel in the living room, and they made their way into the bedroom, Levy stumbling in exhaustion. They prepared for bed, levy yanking on a massive, faded, ancient shirt, and curling up next to Gajeels chest, as they both fell into an exhausted slumber.

A. N.: I wrote it! I suppose I can finally label this story complete. Thank you to all the readers for your support, and I love you guys. I'll probably write another story before too long, but any opinions, or complaints, or whatever for this chapter would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much.


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